


The Flame

by The_Meridian_Complex



Series: Son of Stars [4]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Child Genius, Kirk's childhood, Memories, Old pictures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 13:56:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2231595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Meridian_Complex/pseuds/The_Meridian_Complex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some people are born with a flame inside them.<br/>They are leaders<br/>They are geniuses<br/>They are creators </p><p>And while these people will face hardships, they're flame will never die and they will only learn to be stronger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Flame

Pike could not fathom the kid.  
From the first time he had met James T. Kirk, the youngest survivor of the Kelvin disaster, Pike was utterly bewildered.

Pike was planet-side for a week or two to give speeches on his new dissertation on the Kelvin and he had thought it at least polite to stop by Winona Kirk's place to offer her a copy and to thank her for her help on it.  
He knew very well that Mrs. Kirk would have rather the Kelvin never be mentioned again but when he had contacted her asking for information she had begrudgingly agreed to tell him what she knew and now Pike had a shit-ton to thank her for.

She had welcomed him into her home politely enough if somewhat uncomfortably and had led him past her small son who was eating an apple and laying on the cool linoleum of the kitchen floor, Pike could not help but notice that the boy had a cast on his arm.

The adults both sit down at the large kitchen table and all was quiet for a moment before Pike quietly asks  
“Is that James?” he stared in wonder, he had seen many pictures of George Kirk and he now found is astonishing that the scrawny six year old could look so much like the straight backed and smiling first officer in those pictures.  
“Yes I’m James Tiberius Kirk and I know who you are too.” the boy must have been straining his ears to hear Pikes word for he was still lying on his back and chewing his apple happily, he grinned up at Pike.  
“Your the man who is writing about the Kelvin and has been asking my mother questions, right? Oh yes! You're writing your dissertation, may we see?”  
“Jim! Shut up this instant and get out of here!” Winona was white as she scolded her son for sticking his nose in yet another thing that didn't concern him.  
Pike smiled vaguely as the defiant boy was scolded by his mother.  
Winona looked back at Pike suddenly turning pink and apologizing for her sons directness, but it didn't bother Pike at all infact he could tell the boy was likely very smart and would no doubt make an excellent starship captain one day but he doubted his mother would let him.

“James Kirk, go play outside right now before I make you! I'm having a private conversation, in other words not your business Jim, so go now!”  
The small boy stalked out of the room with a gleam in his eye that told everyone he was up to something and he wasn't giving up that easy.

“You must have your hands full with him.” Pike smiled kindly at Winona.  
“Oh you have no idea, I don’t know what I'm going to do with him now, I am joining Starfleet again next year and though I do hate to leave him I just can’t stay planet-side much longer.”  
“ I understand, its so much different than out there..” They both sat in silence for several minutes until finally, Winona restless in the quiet not unlike her son asked  
“Well I suppose you came for something Chris?” she didn't sound angry but merely tired and a bit sad and suddenly Pike remember. It was three days until the 7th year anniversary of the Kelvin disaster and the 7th birthday of the boy, it must be hard on them, Pike could only imagine.  
“Well yes.. My dissertation is done and I well, though you would like a copy and Winona? I just wanted to thank you for all you have done for me, it can't have been easy, so thank you.” It was the first time Pike had seen Winona really smile but it was still a sad smile.  
“You're welcome Chris, it was nothing.”  
“Oh I also wanted to bring you something, for your help. I had to ask around a lot but I had heard rumors of pictures that had been taken the day of the disaster and it took a while but I found two and I have copies here.”  
It had taken Pike nearly four months to track the rumored pictures down, he had no idea what they contained but when he had finally seen them he knew who they really belonged to.  
Pike handed Winona an envelope and she opened it with shaky hands to reveal two pictures printed on old fashioned paper.  
One picture was of a ships bridge, Winona no doubt recognize it because she let out a gasp as her eyes moved around the picture and quickly found the face she seeked, a man tall and handsome with light hair and sparkling blue eyes, he was smiling brightly standing next to the captains chair like his one and only dream was to be the first officer of the magnificent ship and she knew it had been.  
The other was of a woman laying on a biobed, very pregnant and the same man sitting next to her, both where smiling and looking excited and nervous.  
This was the last time she had seen George, merely hours before his death, she had known she would have the baby that day and George had gone down to check on her just before he went on duty for beta shift, he had promised to come straight down as soon as Winona went into labor, but when she had he wasn't there, they were having trouble on the bridge things were going on that needed everyone's attention more than the woman about to give birth did, George had called down and said he was sorry, she had said it was OK and that he had to come as soon as the danger had passed, and she had said she loved him…  
They only ever talked one time after that.

Winona stood up abruptly. The visit was over. Even Pike could see the tears in her eyes as he headed for the door. She grabbed his hand before he could get far and whispered  
“Thank you for these Chris. Thank you so much.”

Pike hadn't gotten farther than the garden gate when he encountered the small boy running from what looked like a fort built into a nearby tree.  
“I want to see the pictures!” he panted  
“What?! How did you..? I gave them to your mother.” Pike said wondering how in the world the boy could know about the pictures.  
“Oh OK.” Jim turned to run into the house.  
“Wait a minute son!” Pike put out his arm to stop the kid from going inside  
“How did you hear about the pictures, we were all the way in the living room and you were in the tree house that's almost impossible!” At that point Jim started to laugh in a haughty I'm-smarter-than-anyone-else way.  
“Its bugged, some of the house, my brother George did it years ago. He showed me how to use all of his tech before he left for school.”

Pike was shocked as well as amused. The six year old could listen in on any room in the house! He knew that Winona had many friends from Star-fleet that would most likely come quite often to talk about all sorts of things with her and Pike could certainly see why the boys had done it but how? And what other mischief were these kids up to?

Jim gave Pike his most charming, innocent, blue eyed smile and scampered into the house saying  
“Don't tell my mom!”  
Pike never did.

He thought of the events of that day often over his shore leave. Not because of his conversation with Winona and not really because of his finding out that the genius child had been listening the whole time, he mostly thought about that conversation with Jim and when he had turned to leave that smile Jim gave Pike, full of a child's joy but also full of genius and deep down, a flame, burning bright inside James Kirk, a flame that Pike knew, no matter what happened to the kid, would never die.

**Author's Note:**

> I mention Jim's brother in this story and while I don't think he is mention in the reboot movies Kirk actually did have a brother called George Samuel Kirk.  
> I just wanted to make sure that was clear.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
